It is I, a Breeder, who when my fridge quit, saved the dog meds and let the food go bad.

My feet find the way to the kennel before I have even grabbed a cup of coffee in the morning and the kennel is my last stop before bed.

While my friends are on a cruise to the Bahamas and my family meets for Christmas I am home delivering puppies.

I haven’t had a real vacation in 7 years, but maybe soon. All plans

are made around heat dates, whelp dates, Show dates and vet dates.

I shower and 10 minutes later my grand kids say I smell like a dog.

My clothes are all stained with fecal matter, urine, afterbirth or bleach

I have to remember to clean my shoes before church

Most of my friends breed dogs who else can you call at 3 am for support?

Who else has the experience I sometimes need, the med I sometimes need, or just an uplifting word I sometimes need? Who else would understand how it feels to have invested hours and hours and hours in a weak puppy to lose it?

Or the joy in investing hours in one that lives?

I have slept on the floor beside a litter until the crucial 2 weeks

have passed. I have bottle fed a litter of 12..feeding every 2 hours

and it taking 90 minutes to do for weeks at a time.

I have learned to be proficient at micro chipping, vaccinations, sub q fluids, Bottle feeding and tube feeding. my vet knows me by first name the vet knows my children the vet now knows my grand children my vet knows it was I who added on the wing to the vet clinic

I am a Breeder

It is to me that 63 days takes on new meaning still excited by every

new life it is I who delivers all my pups, towels and heat lamps on ready happiness and sadness sometimes intermingled

Even though it increases my work load, I look forward to the 10 day

stage when eyes open, and puppies begin to emerge from the

helplessness of newborns. Puppy breath, a first bark, and a heart of exploration.

I am a conscientious lover of animals and I have found my niche.

I am a Breeder.

And although I feel no shame there is a part of me that feels the

need to hide from powers that could come to invade my home and take my dogs …maybe for finding a mild infraction, a leaf in the water dish? A kennel not yet cleaned for the day?

A rash I am home treating? I tell my children and grand children to

hush, do not tell others we are dog breeders, and I wonder when did breeding puppies go into the same secret place as criminal activity?

I am a Breeder and I am not cruel, dumb, uncaring or criminal. I am not raking in money while sitting on my butt. Every penny I make I earn through blood, sweat and tears.

My greatest joy is a healthy puppy and a wonderful home.

The cards of thanks and the pictures of my puppy with its new family are the fringe benefits of my efforts.

I am an animal lover, nurse, midwife, heavy labourer, customer service representative, and marketer. AND I AM A BREEDER.